Declassify Netaji files, martyr’s family to request PM Modi

New Delhi/Kolkata: Subhas Chandra Bose's grand nephew will meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Germany on Monday to demand declassification of all secret files related to him, amid a row over snooping on his close relatives.

"Subhas Bose did not belong just to his direct family. He had himself said that the whole country is his family. I do not think it's just the duty of the family to raise this issue (of declassification of Netaji files).

"It is the duty of the people of India to raise the issue. If I do get an opportunity to meet the Prime Minister, talk to him for a few minutes, then I would certainly raise the issue," Surya Kumar Bose, grand nephew of Bose said.

Surya Bose, also the president of the Indo-German Association in Hamburg, has been invited by the Indian embassy to attend a reception in Berlin during Modi's visit.

Another grand nephew of the charismatic leader, Chandra Bose said his brother would raise the issue of declassification of files during the meeting.

"The time has now come to declassify Netaji files. Saying it would affect India's relations with other nations is simply a lame excuse. The Modi government has been talking of transparency and now it is the time to provide transparency by releasing those files which will tell us what happened to Netaji during his last years," Bose said.

Bose expressed surprise over the Modi government giving the same excuse as the PMO under Manmohan Singh to block declassification of Netaji files.

"The Prime Minister's office under the Manmohan Singh government made a statement saying if they de-classify these files, they would have problems with friendly neighbours. That's a damaging statement," he said.

In an RTI reply, the Prime Minister's Office has refused to declassify secret files relating to Netaji arguing that the "disclosure would prejudicially affect relations with foreign countries."